Another Day in the Life

If there are any former Field Managers reading this blog, the image to the left should look familiar: broken trailer full of wood. Bo and I had one of those "classic" field days yesterday, and I thought I would share just to let you know that we're still doing work up here.

Our day began at Baker. There was still an impressive pile of logs left over from the trees we had removed at camp this summer. I thought there was no reason to let them sit and rot when they could be converted to heat for a family this Winter, so we cut up the immovable pieces and started loading the trailer. There's nothing like wielding a chainsaw to get going in the morning. After breaking a good sweat, it was time to shovel dried, rancid paint out of a truck bed liner up and over into the dumpster (tree huggers, don't fret: that is what the EPA told us to do). After we locked up my trailer and turned off the water, Baker was left to rest for the winter.

Of course, we had to stop and say goodbye to my neighbor Elijah. And of course I had to respectively haggle with him to reduce his offer of a full meal down to a piece of cake. We sat and ate our slab of cake covered in strawberries and visited with Elijah and his momma for a minute before heading out to finish a project. Not having to stop for lunch anymore, we drove straight to Centertown to flash a porch roof. Tar on our clothes, feeling good, and the family happy, we headed back toward camp when we were done.

With the mountain in sight, the trailer tire we had worried about all day finally decided to blow out and shred itself, leaving a rubbery trail of destruction. There was only one option. We had to stop on the side of a two lane highway, take the entire wheel off and hope the one remaining tire could support the two tons of logs sitting on top of it. After stopping to rearrange the load twice, we slowly limped back to camp and unloaded.

It was one of those days that would have been miserable if we didn't have each other to share in the misery. Instead, it became a successful day full of laughter and a story we'll remember. That got me thinking that there should really be a book comprised of epic Field (and Program) stories written by past Summer Staff. I know the stories out there. It would be like a "Behind the Scenes of MTOP: Told by the People that Made it Happen" collection of tales. I sometimes forget how often we cheat insurmountable odds and even death to make ministry happen. And it's all too much of a coincidence not to be touched by the hand of God.

We often speak of the field operations being the "What" of the ministry and the programming the "Why". You can't have one without the other. I've never been a huge fan of that clear distinction, seeing as they should be interchangeable and immersed in each other. Still, trying not to get too philosophical, that is what we have to do to in order to reach a generation (myself included) that has become much more self-centered and accepting of the status-quo. If we ask "What are we doing?" or "Why are we doing that?", the reasoning is most likely to see if that thing, trip, or task is worth our time; not if there is a need to be met or if God is calling us to that task. That is why the Mountain T.O.P. model has endured and continued to change lives for 36 years. We are forced to look beyond ourselves and deep into ourselves to discover the crucial questions that will bring us closer to God. Because of this, as staff, we endure sweat, blood, flaming trucks, flat tires, trailers full of garbage and debris, and any other number of filthy, joyful tasks in order to fulfill the call placed upon us to love our neighbors and bring to light the Kingdom God here on Earth.

My job is a privilege.